Selumetinib Fails to Improve Outcomes With Dacarbazine in Uveal Melanoma

Source: Cancer Network, April 2018

The combination of the MEK inhibitor selumetinib with dacarbazine did not offer improved survival outcomes over placebo plus dacarbazine in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, according to a phase III trial.
“Uveal melanoma is biologically distinct from cutaneous melanoma and accounts for approximately 3% to 5% of all melanomas in the United States,” wrote study authors led by Richard D. Carvajal, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “There are currently no approved or effective systemic therapies specifically for these patients.”
Preclinical and early clinical data have suggested that the MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib may offer benefit in metastatic uveal melanoma patients. The new phase III SUMIT trial was a randomized, international, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that included 129 patients with metastatic uveal melanoma who had received no prior systemic therapy. They were randomized to receive either selumetinib plus dacarbazine (97 patients) or placebo plus dacarbazine (32 patients). Results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.